Email notifications

PKB sends out email notifications to your main email address. See Updating your Profile for details on changing your email address. The email notifications are designed to inform you about a change in your record, such as a new test result, but without including clinical information. Each message has a link to log into the page in PKB to see the relevant information securely. 

What email notifications do patients receive?

We will send you a notification if:

• Someone, such as a professional, sends you a message. A reminder email is also sent the next day if you haven't opened the message. 

• A new letter or document is added to your record e.g. discharge summaries or clinic letters.  

  • If you haven't opened the message containing your letter or document, a reminder email is sent at 6 am the next day.  Only one reminder is sent. 

• There are changes to the information in your record e.g. we receive new test results for you 

• Changes in sharing e.g. if there is a change to who has access to information in your record.

• Coming soon: Appointment reminders will be sent by default. Reminders will only be disabled if the organisation that created the appointment has specifically requested that they are not sent.

If you have been invited but have not registered yet, you will be notified about appointments, messages, consultations, plans, and changes to sharing.

What limits are placed on email notifications?

To avoid overwhelming you with messages PKB limits certain notifications by default.

However, there are time-sensitive updates that we think are important to notify you about every time they occur.

There is no limit applied on these:

• If someone sends you a message or a document

• If a new appointment is added or there is a change where the date of the appointment is in the future

• If a new plan is added or an existing plan is updated

• If there is a change to who has access to information in your record

• If you have an upcoming event (e.g. hospital admission or discharge)  

• If a new email address is added to your record

• If your password is reset

For all others updates we send a maximum of one notification a day. This includes changes to:

• Allergies

• Diagnoses

• Library links

• Measurements

• Medications

• Test results

• Files

• Journal

The maximum limit applies to emails relating to all of these data types. For example, if a new allergy and new diagnosis are added on the same day, you will only get one email notification.

Please note no email notifications will be sent in the following scenarios:

• If the appointment date is in the past

• If a document is sent in where the document date is older than one week

• If GP data from the EMIS Extract Service is added to the record that is older than one week (unless a patient has not received a notification about their record containing EMIS data before)

• If a patient discharge is processed where the discharge date is older than one week

• Updates to demographics

How can I change my email notification preferences?

You can change your email notification preferences from the ‘Profile’ page in your record.

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There are two options available:

1. Default: We send time-sensitive notifications and a maximum of one notification a day about other data added to your record. Read more about the default notification behaviour.

2. Time-sensitive only: We will only send you notifications about appointments, documents, messages, plans, questionnaires, sharing changes and password resets.

If you choose to set your email notification preference to ‘Time-sensitive only’, you will continue to receive email notifications about changes to the records of people that you care for. You will receive an email notification for every change made to their record.

What email address do the notifications come from?

Emails are sent from no-reply-uk@patientsknowbest.com.

Coming soon: Appointment reminder email notifications

• Appointment reminder emails are scheduled to go live late June/early July 2026.

• Appointment reminders will be sent by default. Reminders will only be disabled if the organisation that created the appointment has specifically requested that they are not sent.

• An email reminder will be sent to patients and their carers 7 days and 2 days before their scheduled appointment.

• The link in the email will take the patient or carer to the appointment details in the patient's record.

• Appointment reminder emails will be sent to both registered and unregistered patients, provided a valid email address is available in their record.

• If the patient has not yet registered, the appointment reminder email will include information on how to register so they can access their appointment details.

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Example of an appointment reminder email notification

Future enhancements for appointment reminders

PKB can already send Notifications & Messages (N&M) in the NHS App for appointment activity, which includes sending an NHS App message and an associated native Apple or Android push notification. 

Later in 2026 we plan to expand our existing Notifications & Messages (N&M) in the NHS App for appointment activity, to include sending appointment reminders via Notifications & Messages in the NHS App.

User Journey

• Patients will receive an appointment reminder message in the NHS App message inbox alongside an associated push notification. 

• Clicking on the push notification will take the patient through the authentication process to open the NHS app and then go straight to the message in the NHS App Messaging inbox. 

• The message will contain a summary of the appointment reminder and a link to view the appointment. 

• Clicking on the link will take the user to the PKB ‘View appointment’ page inside the NHS app.

  • Unregistered users will be required to register before accessing the appointment details.

Email notification fallback

1. If the message sent to the NHS App is read within 4 hours of sending, PKB will NOT send an email notification

2. PKB will send an email if:

   1. We receive a ‘rejected’ or ‘un-notified’ status 

   2. We don’t receive a ‘notified’ status within 1 hour

   3. If the NHS App message has not been opened within 4 hours

SMS notifications

Organisations might ask PKB to send SMS notifications.

Organisations can choose to enable this feature for the following:

A new referral for an unregistered patient

PKB will only send SMS notifications for new referrals if all the following conditions are met: 

1. The organisation has enabled the SMS referral flow 

2. The organisation sent a new referral letter to the patient via HL7 (HL7 MDM T02 with the document type in TXA-2 marked as RL (Referral letter))

3. The patient’s record has a mobile number in the mobile field but the patient has not registered 

4. The patient is aged 16 or over

A new Advanced questionnaire for an unregistered patient

PKB will only send SMS notifications for questionnaires if all the following conditions are met: 

1. The organisation has enabled the SMS questionnaire flow 

2. Patients is sent an Advanced Questionnaire.

3. The patient’s record has a mobile number in the mobile field but the patient has not registered 

4. The patient is aged 16 or over

Who is exempt from SMS?

SMS will not be sent if the patient:

• is under 16

• marked as deceased

• has a frozen record

• Patients who have specifically requested to not receive any notifications (do not contact)

• does not meet any of the qualifying requirements for an SMS to be sent (outlined for each flow above)

NHS App notifications

You can read about NHS App notifications on our NHS App & NHS login guide here

Patient notification table

The table below documents which notifications are sent to patients and when.

If an NHS App message about new data is read within 4 hours, a copy by email will not be sent.